MH-232 Daedelus - Exquisite CorpseThe new release from Daedelus, Exquisite Corpse is an ode to, and a lament for hip-hop culture. Featuring solo contributions and collaborative efforts with guests whose performances range from traditional (MF Doom, Sci from Scienz of Life) to poetic (Mike Ladd, Cyne, Laura Darling) to experimental (Prefuse 73, Hrishikesh Hirway of the One AM Radio, TTC, Jogger), Daedelus forms the seemingly disparate elements of sound found on the album with a single-minded vision. The album's title has a triple meaning: a reference to death, a grand body of work, and the Impressionist group drawing game of the same name. The guest MCs and vocalists contrast their own styles with Daedelus' sugar-laden undercoating proving that there are no limits to what can be included on a hip-hop album.

It's arrived a little late for Valentine's Day, but Exquiste Corpse by Daedelus is the perfect romantic soundtrack for lovers with their feet on the streets. The album title comes from the Surrealist game played by French intellectuals, where half a sentence would be written on a piece of paper and then passed to the next person. Travel Inconsequences if you like, and it's a theme that suits this agile and attentive album perfectly. Daedelus, if you remember, was the father of Icarus in the Greek legend, but judging by the fourteen diverse tracks evident here, the wax is still holding those wings together tight. To try and actually describe how this album sounds would make little sense, as it's so broad in range and style. It's more like snatches of tunes and beats from multiple eras, but they're all woven expertly together so it doesn't ever feel broken. It may have its own bizarre logic, but it is true unto itself. Each new direction it takes always makes sense, whether the listener was expecting it or not. Collaborations take the fragmentary nature of the backing tracks and turn them into something more substantial. Whether it's the raps from Sci and Cyne (contributing to "Move On" and "Drops," respectively), or the elusive vocals of Laura Darling on "Now & Sleep," Exquiste Corpse is an album that shifts in and out of focus by design. At times the overall attitude is reminiscent of that epic Avalanches sampleathon, Since I Left You, simply because the musical sources skips decades, if not centuries at a time. In fact with the beat and the samples, they often run in parallel. Prefuse 73 also appears on "Welcome Home," a key indication of the quality of the album in general. So by its nature Exquiste Corpse is patchy, but this element of surprise is what helps drive the highlights, because they often appear seemingly out of nowhere. The way that track "i Sent Off ii Sus Per Coil," resolves itself in the second half for instance, is the kind of unexpected dimension that makes the journey more than worthwhile. And the mood, if not the source material, stays on a level pegging from start to finish. It might dart from 1930's movies score, to gritty rap, to lullaby and back again, but the hand of the creator is always evident, as is the heart. It's a celebration of diversity. It's never as overtly romantic as say, Kid Koala scratching his way through Moon River, but there's a pervading sense of intimacy. This helps ground the technological and sensory acrobatics, and ensures that you'll want to listen to the album repeatedly. Slightly fuzzy at times, where the remarkable sections stand out precisely because they're against the backdrop of the less noteworthy ones, Exquiste Corpse dangles the musical carrot and entices you along from moment to moment. In the end it might not exactly resolve itself, but seeing as it never set out to, it's hardly a fair criticism. The journey that Daedelus takes you on is very much the destination, so grab a window seat and take it all in. - Pixel Surgeon